Oregon assistant coach Mark Wasikowski left Tucson last weekend with as much to be pleased about as the former Arizona assistant could ask for.

Wasikowski, who joined the Ducks' baseball team last summer, had a chance to visit former Wildcats players and Arizona coach Andy Lopez, a man Wasikowski had spent most of his adult life working along side.

More importantly, Wasikowski left victorious after Oregon won two of three from the No. 11 Wildcats to take a commanding lead in the Pacific-12 Conference standings.

"It was the most emotional weekend I've had maybe in my coaching career," Wasikowski, 41, said.

Emotional because last year Wasikowski made a life-altering decision to leave a program he helped build into a power in order to assist Oregon coach George Horton in doing the same with the Ducks.

Horton hired Wasikowski to help transform what had become a mentally soft lineup into a tougher, attacking unit, and to strengthen recruiting.

For Wasikowski, the challenge was too attractive to pass up.

"I want guys who can help build this thing and help turn it into what I think it can become -- and that's a monster," Wasikowski said.

Wasikowski knows all about winning. From Seal Beach, Calif., he played third base for Pepperdine's 1992 national championship team coached by Lopez. Wasikowski became Lopez's assistant for one season at Pepperdine and for three at Florida before both ended up at Arizona.

There, Wasikowski served as Arizona's recruiting coordinator, a job he now has at Oregon, and had several recruiting classes ranked among the Top 10 in the nation. The Wildcats, led by lineups that produced numerous MLB draft picks, made seven postseason appearances, reaching the College World Series in 2004.

Horton went after Wasikowski in 2008 when the program returned. But it wasn't the right time for Wasikowski to move.

When Arizona visited Oregon for a series, Wasikowski said he and Lopez stood in the visitor's dugout at PK Park and discussed how good Oregon could become under Horton.

A couple of years later, Wasikowski finds himself in Oregon's home dugout, where he'll be when the Ducks host USC this weekend.

Simply put, he wanted a change. Personally, Wasikowski said Oregon, including the schools in Eugene, is the perfect fit for his family, wife Lori Jo and daughters, Joelle, 10, and Kelsey, 7.

Professionally, Wasikowski has embraced the challenge of helping to build a big time winner from scratch.

Oregon's team is built around pitching and defense. Lacking has been offensive punch. Oregon shocked many by small-balling its way to the 2010 playoffs. But last year the team took a step back.

Enter Wasikowski.

Statistically, Oregon isn't much better offensively than it was in 2010. Batting average has risen from .258 to .262. On-base percentage is up from .346 to .352. Runs: 4.7 to 4.78. Strikeouts: 6.2 per game to 6.8. The only spiked improvement has been in slugging percentage, .346 to .374.

But numbers can be misleading. Areas where Oregon has greatly improved are in its overall attitude and approach to hitting.

"He's changed our mentality a lot," second baseman Aaron Payne said.

Under Wasikowski, and assistant Jay Uhlman, the Ducks have been more focused at the plate and more aggressive on the base paths. The result has been smarter play and more timely production. Oregon might not be scoring more but it's scoring when it needs to in order to win games.

"We really wanted to add a toughness and a belief," Wasikowski said. "If there was a knock on the offense at Oregon in the past it was just that whenever they got behind you basically had them beat. They weren't going to come back."

Wasikowski, who said Oregon has a hard working group of players who have bought into change, has tried to instill a sense of reckless abandon in his players.

"He's brought a whole new aspect of toughness and determination and just wanting it more than other people," outfielder Brett Thomas said.

View full sizeRandy L. Rasmussen/The OregonianAggression on the base paths doesn't always work for Oregon. Here Kyle Garlick is tagged out while attempting to steal second base Washington State. But assistant coach Mark Wasikowski would rather the team play aggressively and fail than play passively and hope to win.

Horton's been impressed with the results Wasikowski and Uhlman have produced.

Said Horton: "I think they've done a better job with the material they've been given this year, getting those kids to reach their potential more than I did the previous three years running the offense."

The next step is adding more talent. The type of talent with Major League potential that helped elevate Arizona and Horton's Cal State Fullerton teams.

"We're going to go after big time ability and we're going to get some big time ability," Wasikowski said. "When you have two or three big time threats in the offense you can wreak havoc on opponents."

Horton said Wasikowski has been a great fit on the field and expects his networking in recruiting circles and ability to identify winning traits in players beyond obvious physical gifts will help raise the talent level at Oregon.

"I think we're going to get a more complete, tougher player than we've gotten in the past," Horton said.

Talent enjoyed at Arizona, a team the Ducks defeated last weekend with resolve and grit thanks to a belief in simply playing hard.

"We tell them, 'Hey guys we're not going to play scared, we're going to get after people," Wasikowski said. "If at the end of the day the scoreboard says we're losers, then we lost."

When Wasikowski is around the scoreboard often tells a different story.